Fox News and Wall Street Journal parent company News Corp donated $1 million to the Republican Governors Association in June, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported.
The media conglomerate, controlled by Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, took advantage of the unlimited donations corporations can give to governors' associations (from Bloomberg BusinessWeek):
The Republicans' biggest corporate donor was New York-based News Corp. Teri Everett, a spokeswoman, said the company "actively supports organizations that advocate a pro-job, low tax, economic growth agenda."
News Corp. opposes proposed federal rule changes that would weaken the position of its Fox network in negotiations with cable companies. Governors may have a stake in the issue. In March, for example, New York Governor David Paterson stepped in with a call for binding arbitration in a dispute over fees between Bethpage, New York-based Cablevision Systems Corp. and Burbank, California-based Walt Disney Co.'s ABC.
News Corp made the $1 million donation on June 24, according to Politico's Ben Smith (and a filing).
As Smith points out, News Corp's highest-ranking Democratic executive, former #2 exec Peter Chernin, left the company last year. Murdoch's liaison to the Democratic party, communications executive Gary Ginsberg, also left the company last year.
"News Corporation believes in the power of free markets, and the RGA's pro-business agenda supports our priorities at this most critical time for our economy," a company spokesman told Smith.
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